Strikers Read Online Free PDF

concrete, like he doesn’t want to intrude, and has his arms crossed against his chest like he’s embarrassed to find us sleeping like we’re homeless.
    That makes two of us, because I’m embarrassed he found us like this. Still, I can’t control the huge yawn that comes out and the shiver that follows directly after. I shrug in his direction and he surprises me with a smile. It’s a small smile, one that barely turns up his lips, but a real one.
    It takes a few moments of stomping to get my blood moving while Cassi soothes Connor as he wakes up completely, but eventually we’re all awake and ready to find out how Jovan can help us. That he’s here means Cassi has achieved at least a partial success, and I clap her on the back to let her know it’s appreciated.
    Rather than sit back down, we walk along the canal away from town. The other side of the road has a line of small houses. The exact same kind of small houses go several rows back, mine included. Half of them aren’t occupied and the other half are quiet so there’s no one to question our actions. Four teens walking along the canal isn’t unusual enough to raise any questions anyway.
    Jovan doesn’t waste any time. Almost as soon as our feet get moving he says, “You guys shouldn’t do this. Really.”
    “Yeah, I figured that part out already,” I say, not quite keeping the sarcasm out of my voice. He shoots me a look that I ignore.
    Connor must sense the tension because he adopts his reasonable tone and says, “We’re well aware of the risks, but this is her father we’re talking about. And my brother.”
    Jovan is taller than any of us by at least several inches, so when he looks at us, he is looking down at us. Normally, that would make me uncomfortable, but his look is searching and concerned. There’s nothing superior about it.
    “I can probably get you in. I might even be able to get you out. But it’s a risk. It’s a crime.”
    All of us give him a nod. We know this and two of us already have strikes on our necks to prove we understand what that means. Jovan looks at Cassi and says, “You don’t need to go inside, so you’re going to help us on the outside where I need it. Can you do that?”
    She looks relieved and I cringe inside. I hadn’t even considered that she had no reason other than her friendship with us for going inside the Courthouse. Jovan is apparently a better friend than I am. And he gave her pink glasses.
    “Sometime around midnight the soldiers on duty get a meal. It’s called midrats,” he says, then shakes his head at our lost looks. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that it’s always a cadet that goes to get the meal and bring it to them before going on patrol duty. Always.”
    I can see where this is going. I can also see that he’s doing more than just telling us how we might weasel our way in for a visit. He’s talking about actually getting us in himself.
    “Why are you doing this?” I break in before he can go on. “I mean, you don’t actually have to go in with us. So why do it?”
    The look he gives me isn’t one I can easily interpret. It’s steady, but distant, like I’ve hurt him somehow just by asking. It feels uncomfortable enough to make me look away and I cover by looking to Connor for support. He looks just as skeptical as I am.
    “It’s a good question,” Connor says. “Why would you do this?”
    “Because it’s for a good reason,” Jovan answers. The way he cuts the sentence off makes it clear that’s the only answer we’ll get.
    I see Cassi giving me a sidelong grin out of the corner of my eye. I ignore it.
    “On most nights the cadet who brings the food will take the place of the soldier on duty at the desk so they can all go back and eat. That leaves no one but the cadet watching the entrance to the cells for at least fifteen minutes, maybe longer if things are relaxed inside. Given the load that came in, I wouldn’t bank on more than ten minutes tonight.”
    As he